


Seizures

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bigotry & Prejudice, Family, Friendship, Gain of Bending Ability, Gen, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past physical abuse, Seizures, alternative universe, past emotional abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-11-21
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25172368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: Sometimes the brain washing didn't go the way they planned... but even so... the opposite effects of their system also have guaranteed that no one speaks about things that shouldn't be said.
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Jet & Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 26
Collections: A Whisper to the  Dark Side, Platonic Relationships





	1. Forsaken

**Author's Note:**

> 5/19/19 – I originally wrote this story because I could only find a few fanfics featuring Zuko and Jet which weren't slashfic, It is 2019 and I am still only able to find a small handful, but I would like to encourage others to write their own stories of the Friendship and/or Family genre.
> 
> I'm also working on editing the earlier chapters of the story, the first eight of which were written prior to 2010 and chapter nine was written back in Spring of 2017. I was originally planning on leaving the earlier chapters as is because my older work shows how I've grown as a dyslexic writer, but I find it is easier to work with the older stories I'm continuing if I either do a complete rewrite or edit them

Jet was not happy.

The teenager felt anger seethe through his body as the Dail Li hauled him into a dismal jail cell he didn't feel he belonged in. In the back of his mind he didn't understand why the Dai Li didn't care about the potential threat of Firebenders entering the city let alone why they'd haul him into the pit of despair he now found himself in.

At least, he thought it was a jail cell.

Jet found himself slammed into what seemed like an interrogation chair as he continued yelling about the two Firebenders who were in Ba Sing Se, yet the way the Dai Li ignored him aggravated him. Jet ground his teeth together and clenched his jaw before saying, "Is the city under control of the Fire Nation or something?"

He felt the Dai Li pull his arms to the sides of the chair. Bands of earth strapped across his wrist and brow area as he squirmed, but the rock was hard and clammy. A lamp stated going round and round, but he heard the voice of one of the Dai Li attempting to implement thoughts into his head, yet Jet found himself rejecting the thought with his entire being.

" _There was no war._ "

A shiver ran through his body upon realizing he no longer physically fought the restraints. Thankfully, every fiber of Jet's body still knew there _was_ a war going on outside the walls. Said war formulated who he was but was a part of where he came from even if some of his past mistakes were not to his personal liking. The idea of forgetting his anger and hatred of Firebenders tore at his very being, but then something hit him.

Something hit his being which was worse which somehow threw the suggestion the Dai Li were attempting to implement into his mind out the window. Jet opened his mouth and tried to say something, but the words refused to come out of his mouth. His eyes opened and closed despite his attempts at keeping his eyes away from the spinning light as his head started to pound and his eyes kept being drawn to the light.

" _Spirits. Blast those stupid Firebenders. If it weren't for them I wouldn't be in here feeling as if a rock just hit me in the temple._ " Jet's eyes blinked, but the pain was immense. A sudden spasm running through his entire body. Jet felt his entire body involuntarily strain against the rock restraints as a strangled cry erupted from his throat.

Something was definitely wrong, but he found himself slipping mentally as his body contorted more erratically as the seconds ticked by while the man in front of him continued to chant. "There is no war."

The man only stopped when another person stepped between Jet and the light. "Stop! We won't be able to brainwash the boy! He's one of those!"

"One of those who ends up with fits of seizures upon exposure?" the other man asked. "I don't understand. He looked completely healthy."

"Not anymore. Obviously, there was something wrong with him that we didn't notice when we brought him, just as there were others with whom the ailment wasn't evident in. It's going to show now and no one will want to listen to his yammering about Firebenders as they'll take them as someone who is possibly addled in the head."

" _No,_ " the teenager though. Jet realized his body was continuing to shake involuntarily, but he felt as if he was going to bite his tongue off. He also felt as if he were trying to forget every memory one at a time, not to mention whatever was going on made his head feel as if it were on fire. He felt a piece of rock piece jammed painfully into his mouth in a sad attempt at preventing him from biting down.

"A pity. He would have been such a useful tool." The man who stepped in front of the light didn't hide his disgust. "But now he's useless to all of societly."

" _No._ " Was all the young man could think, but the last thing he ever wanted to be useless. His body in fact finally stopped contorting and whoever jammed in the disgusting rock removed the offending item. He found himself attempting to speak. "I… am… rine. Get… te… Riler…benter." His eyes snapped shut in disgust.

"Well, it looks we won't need to complete the breaking of his mind as his speech has already partially gone," the man said. Nobody bothered putting the rock back into the young man's mouth. He stepped away and the light started going around again causing his's body to contort again as a strangled cry escaped his lips. He wanted to yell at his captures demanding they let him go, yet even calling out for help proved an impossible feat.

Instead, his whole mind was shattering, and he didn't think getting everything back would be possible.

**~A~**

Zuko found himself looking at the wreckage of the shop wondering how the situation between him and Jet became so bad. He found himself unable to look the shop owner in the eye knowing he and his uncle were the reason why the shop ended up wrecked even though he'd not started the fight with Jet. His mind went back to those who held prejudices towards him on the road even when he had the best intentions in mind.

Worse, the look on Iroh's face was one of those looks which indicated his uncle was disappointed in him. The shop keeper didn't catch the look on his uncle's face and instead waved them away telling them they could go home early as he would need to clean up the shop after the Dai Li hauled the boy away. Iroh continued giving him the look while they walked away from the carnage and Zuko's mouth twisted into a deep frown. "What did I do this time?"

"Nothing nephew." Iroh said, yet Zuko didn't believe this true particularly when it was followed by a sigh. " I just thought you got along quite well with that other man, but I thought that after you fought a bit that perhaps you two could have settled your differences and became friends. After all, it is normal for boys to settle disputes this way."

"You know that wouldn't have happened Uncle. He hates Firebenders."

"But the four of you stole that food for everyone." Iroh muttered in a manner which indicated his disappointment.

"Haven't you gotten mad at me for stealing in the past?" Zuko snapped, remembering all to well the things he'd done before separating from his uncle."

"It depends completely on the moral grounds nephew and whether you did it for the right reasons, or our of desperation in your heart. That is what true honor is about, in part."

"I know, I know, but I don't get these ethics and honor stuff you keep telling me about. In fact, I don't understand how one can tell what is morally correct let alone honorable."

"Yes. Your father raised you well." The tone in Iroh's voice indicated a bit of disdain.

"Uncle…" Zuko pulled back slightly, startling at his Uncle saying such things against his father, let alone the Fire Lord. He watched Iroh stop in his tracks and turned back to see the old man's mouth pushed into a thin line. "What?"

"No. Listen Zuko." The tone indicated he wasn't going to hold back. "Your father has no real honor, but has left you with a very crippled idea…"

"What? I was trying to ask you to explain how one knows whether something is honorable or not and you lecture me about father again."

Iroh took a deep breath. "Your father has taught you that honor is about ones achievements and major accomplishments, but winning no matter what the cost."

"So it's not about winning?"

"No, it's not about winning." Iroh looked Zuko directly in the eye. "Honor is about doing what is stuck in your heart screaming to be let out. It's about doing what your heart feels is right rather than what others say, sometimes even going against what your head tells you to do because it is so engrained into you that thing in your head is the right thing to do even if it might not be."

The two arrived at the apartment at that point and Zuko went over to his bed and lay down. "Whatever."

Iroh went to his own bed and was soon snoring while Zuko didn't want to think of the days events. His head turned and he caught sight of something blue and white sticking out of everything and bit his lip. He heard Iroh turn over in his sleep, but also speak. "Where is that poor boy."

Zuko bit down further on his lip and reached out for the mask tucked under his pillow. He sat up and changed into his clothing so he could become the Blue Spirit, yet didn't see his Uncle open one eye while he wasn't looking. Instead, Iroh continued snoring indicating he was indeed asleep.


	2. Rescue

The Blue Spirit found himself wondering if he were in his right mind.

He'd left the confines of a warm safe room to save a young man who honestly wanted nothing to do with him, yet very likely would rather see him dead, in hopes of attempting a rescue. He acted without stopping and thinking about where the Dai Li kept their prisoners which were picked up off the street, yet he now found himself wondering how he would find this location.

If it had been the Fire Nation the answer would be much simpler, as he knew the layout of many of the places by heart.

In the back of the Blue Spirit's mind he knew finding Jet meant somehow causing a disturbance to the peace without being caught, and yet not getting caught was one of the Blue Spirit's specialties. After all, he managed to break into Pohuai Stronghold so he might break the Avatar out, yet they might have made it out unnoticed if someone hadn't noticed the Avatar was in fact missing from his cell.

The Blue Spirit brushed away the memory of the Avatar asking if they could have been friends as an unimportant and trivial thought.

The masked figure slunk around corners watching carefully and saw an old man standing at the corner he now stood hiding in the shadows of. The thought crossed his mind of jumping out and scaring the old man so he might attract the Dai Li so he might follow them to wherever they were stationed so he might hear the location of the jail where Jet was actually being kept.

However, the Blue Spirit didn't feel right scaring the old man so that an innocent might end up hauled off to jail.

A groan escaped from between his lips. " _Sending an innocent to jail for a non-innocent?_ " The Blue Spirit shook his head. " _Scratch that. I'm not trying to rescue him. I'm just seeing if he's alright, as Uncle will want to know. I don't feel one ounce of remorse for him ending up in there. After all, he wanted to cause problem for the only family member I can at this point trust._ "

The Blue Spirit continued debating what he should do when a man came out and tried stealing the old man's wallet. He shook his head wondering why an old man was out here this late at night, when suddenly the old man let out a yell. The Dai Li were upon the thief in no time, but in turn brought in one of those carriages which carted off Jet.

Then the Blue Spirit moved.

He remained quiet as he climbed up onto the roof and maneuvered so he could land on top of the roof of the carriage before diving down below out of the sight of anyone much in the same manner he snuck into Pohuai Stronghold. Under his mask he couldn't help but feel elated at his cleverness for finding a way to find Jet.

Of course, Uncle would likely not be happy with the nighttime excursion. There was nothing the exiled prince could do about it now, yet in the back of his mind he felt at ease knowing his Uncle wouldn't actually know he'd left as the old man was back home fast asleep.

**A**

He struggled with the task of remembering who he was. He didn't want to think about anything in fear his body might go into shock as it had the last time he tried piecing the pieces together. Shock was the best way for him to describe the situation. He found himself completely without the use of his body yet still couldn't figure out what they did to him – or what they were going to do with him either.

The Dai Li lifted him with rough hands and flung him into the cart that brought him to the place they brought him – or carriage, or whatever it was. His mind couldn't put words to certain things, yet his shoulder hit hard and dislocated when they threw him in. He found himself unable to react to the pain in any way, which for some reason disturbed him.

Then again, there was the fact he couldn't move at all.

He heard one of the soldiers laugh in a mocking manner. "Another kid for the mental ward."

"No. They said he's going to be a street urchin, but only if he can survive that long" Another soldier laughed, but he could see their faces looking at him in amusement.

"They may pick him up off the streat and stick him in the mental hospital. I hear that he's one of the ones with body tremors, no explanations why."

"You mean he was one of those which fell down and had convulsions before all of this?"

"Nope. He seemed perfectly fine when they brought him in. Then wham! They tried using the device on him and he started convulsing."

"Are they sure he won't be a problem?" The door snapped shut yet he could still hear the man speaking.

"Believe me. Nobody will because of these convulsions. If he continues everyone will simply consider him mental. What I don't understand why they gave him back those blasted blades. He's not going to be able to use them given that there is no telling when he'll have a seizure."

**A**

The Blue Spirit continued riding on top of the carriage as it stopped next to another one, but he heard the drivers speak to each other. The driver of the carriage he hid under spoke up. "Do you have another one returning to a normal life?"

"No." The tone of voice seemed amused by the given situation. "I have a teenage boy who nobody will believe him if he talks about Firebenders being in the city again – let's just say he's so broken _nobody_ will believe him."

"Good riddance! No war, remember?" The man driving the carriage which the Blue Spirit hid under said cheerfully, before taking off.

Two eyes scrunched together under a blue mask as the Blue Spirit realized the person, he was looking for was in the other carriage. He let himself drop and take a quick glance to make sure nobody was watching before heading after the second carriage and attached himself to the back of the other carriage without being noticed.

" _Why am I doing this again? Uncle. Right. This is for Uncle's sake._ " The Blue Spirit peeked in, his eyes narrowing at what he saw. Curled up in the back of the carriage without any fight in him was the young man who tried outing him and his uncle as Firebenders. Seeing the young man curled into a ball with no fight in him left a nasty feeling in the back of his mind.

He carefully opened the door and stepped in so that nobody would notice him and stepped closer to Jet. After a brief moment Jet somehow managed glancing up, but upon seeing the mask the Blue Spirit wore his eyes rolled back. The Blue Spirit watched as Jet's body began to convulse, but he did the thing the ships medic said to do in order to prevent someone from biting their tongue off in this continuation.

The Blue Spirt took one of the hilts of his dao and placed it into Jet's mouth allowing Jet to bit down on that, but the sound coming from the other teens mouth was less than pleasing. He found himself surprised the guard hadn't yet stopped at the noise and caught him in the actual carriage, but then he heard a voice.

"Another seizure?"

The Blue spirit frowned. " _Wait. Another seizure? This has happened before? No wonder…_ "

He found himself taking in Jet's current state, but then heard one of the guards moving. "I'd better see that he isn't biting his tongue off. The last thing I'd want is his death on our hands and the paper work which will go with that."

The Blue Spirit moved quickly and lifted Jet up yet found himself the seizure had already stopped. He found himself utilizing another tactic he used at Pohuai Stronghold, yet acting putting his dao to Jet's throat wasn't as easy as the Avatar as he found himself having to support Jet's body somewhat as he waited for the man to open the door.

The man let out a gasp and yet moved when the Blue Spirit nodded his head indicating he should let them go. Upon getting out of sight of the two men he quickly sheathed his swords and swung Jet over his shoulder. Nobody pursued him, yet something told him the two men felt he was lucky Jet was now out of their hands and didn't feel the need to follow after.

Carrying Jet still proved awkward as he was not a light weight.


	3. Panic

Getting thrown into the carriage roughly was far from a pleasant experience, but so was barely finding himself able to curl up into a ball. Doing so did nothing to keep at bay the shaking which ran through his entire body, but his mind remained in a fog and he couldn't place what would happen to him outside of the possibility of wandering the streets for a few days.

If of course, he could stand up.

A shadow passed over the actual window area. There was a hole at the back of the carriage which let some light in, yet this proved no form of comfort. He started looking up upon registering the door open and close because of the change of light so he might see the person who stood above him.

For some reason his body started seizing on him again when he laid eyes on the mask; it wasn't because he was scared, but because the sudden sight startled him. The person in the blue mask stepped over and shoved him into the back and removed his sword. " _To kill me. Good riddance._ " Those words passed through Jet's mind, yet no such thing happened.

Instead, he found the hilt of the sword stuffed into his mouth where he could still feel the pain from the time before, but the action did nothing to make him stop feeling ill. He felt the carriage stop yet didn't know how he'd managed to register that with the way his body didn't respond the way he wanted his body to.

The next thing he knew, the blue freak – for that was what the other person was – had a set of blades pressed to the neck while walking him backwards. On one side the driver was letting them go, yet on the other side he wasn't sure he could trust the stranger. When the blue freak maneuvered him out of site, he felt himself thrown over the person's shoulder, yet he also felt as if he were going to throw up.

Eventually they arrived at a place far away from the carriage and that _thing_ lowered him from the shoulder and leaned him up against the wall. He found himself looking at the guy, yet he wanted to scream, " _Who are you!_ "

He heard the person let out a frustrated sigh before speaking in a voice which somehow felt familiar almost as if his eyes screamed what he wanted to scream. "You won't be happy knowing who rescued you." He continued glaring at the person. The person in question let out a sigh. "Fine. Have it your way Jet."

He was Jet, leader of the Freedom Fighters who came to Ba Sing Se in hopes of starting over with Longshot and Smellerbee, but regaining that memory felt like a relief. The person reached up and removed their mask, but Jet's eyes went wide from shock. Seeing the person in front of him was far from a relief, yet he didn't know _why_ Lee was the person standing in front of him.

The shock unfortunately sent him into another set of convulsions. He felt something shoved into his mouth again and realized the Fire Nation brat shoved his hand in and he was now biting down between the thumb and other fingers while he convulsed. "Not again! What did they do to you in there?"

Lee waited for Jet to finish, but when he removed his hand Jet felt his stomach contents which were honestly mostly empty come up. The contents exploded all over the person he felt a major enemy.

The action was completely mortifying, yet the look on the other youth's face as he looked down at his shirt was priceless until he said, "Thank you." Even though the tone was sarcastic Lee took things to well, but he felt Lee touch his face and make him look him the eye. "You do realize you have two choices here, since I don't know where your friends are and can't drop you off with them. I can either leave you here on the street, or I can take you home so my uncle can see if he can do anything to help you."

Jet purposefully spat out the last of the vomit onto the boy's feet and glared at him and attempted stuttering out the word leave. However, the word came out garbled. Lee lifted one eyebrow before getting up and walking away. Jet found himself delighted at the fact Lee was gone and tried standing up on his own, only to find himself collapsing to the ground.

His eyes reminded towards the ground when he felt someone helping him onto his feet while bringing his right arm over the right shoulder and his left arm over the left before Lee attempted reaching for his legs so that he might carry him on his back. Jet found himself struggling a bit, yet managed to squeeze the throat of the boy slightly, which in turn caused Lee to stagger a bit.

"Knock it off! Do you want me to help you or not? Oh, wait. You'd rather die then let someone you suspect of being the Fire Nation help you!" For some reason Jet loosened his grip around Lee's throat. "Good. Feel free to strangle me later, but try to get some sleep. I'm taking you back to the apartment I live in with my uncle."

Jet found himself able to get a word out that wasn't garbled. "Why?"

"Because, my uncle would never let me live down leaving you out here, though he is going to ask how you got there, " Lee sighed. "He doesn't even know I snuck out. Oh, and _don't_ tell him about the mask. He doesn't believe that I'm the Blue Spirit and I'd rather it remain that way."

Jet found himself livid and his body tensed as he tried not falling asleep while Lee carried him. The situation was definitely a mortifying one as Lee started walking down the street heading towards wherever they lived. Suddenly, a man with a straw hat stopped him. "Where do you two think you're going?"

Lee glanced up. "Sorry. My cousin here got sick, so I had to go and pick him up from where he was so I can take him home to our Uncle. Uncle is good at – well, he's good at making teas to make people feel better."

" _That guard is so_ _not_ _going to buy that we're related!"_ Jet scoffed to himself as he was to weak to move let alone make a face, yet he obviously made a face.

"I guess your cousin isn't looking forward to that. Healing teas tend to be very bitter," the man said. Jet blinked a couple of times, not believing that the man had actually bought Lee's lies. "Ah. I'm right. He's not looking forward to it."

Jet bit his lip as the man hurried off and let a grumble right into Lee's ear. The youth continued moving so Jet wouldn't fall off his back. "Yeah, Yeah. When you're able to move you're going to try and kill me. Again. The only difference is now you know I can hold my own in a fight."

" _Why didn't I recognize those blasted swords?_ " Jet thought to himself, his eyelids drooping even though he tried fighting off sleep. He would have to figure out how to kill Lee later.


	4. Uncle

Zuko honestly felt like a fool.

After having gotten away far enough he could set Jet down he did so, but found the other teen glaring lividly at him. There was no possible way that he could have known who was behind the mask and told the young man it _wasn't_ a good idea for Jet to know who his rescuer behind the mask was. Something in the back of his mind made him wonder if Jet recognized the swords he carried on the back and decided it best to just give in.

The anger Zuko saw in Jet's eyes left a shallow feeling, yet any thoughts regarding how Jet's rejection made him feel were quickly forgotten when Jet went into another seizure.

Except – this time there was something more, almost as if the earth begun to shake a little with the tremors in Jet's body.

Jet remained in no condition to know what was going on, yet Zuko knew if this was Jet's doing there was likely no clue he was doing it. Worse, there were no signs of Jet having the ability of Earth Bending before, for in the back of Zuko's mind he felt quite sure Jet would use the bending on him in their fight. As such, the person wasn't Jet but someone else was coming.

He found in his urge to calm the situation down that he made a huge mistake; he stuffed his hand into Jet's mouth so he wouldn't gag on his own tongue instead of the hilt of his sword. Zuko held the other teen's head so he wouldn't slam his head against the wall despite the pain he felt, but found himself muttering something about this happening again.

Finally, when Jet's movements stopped, Zuko removed his hand.

The end result was Jet vomiting all over him. The vomit wasn't the kind which puked up chunks of food but was instead the bile which came up when one's stomach was empty. Zuko snapped a curt thank you to the other youth before grabbing Jet's face so they looked each other in the eye and gave Jet two choices. He felt the movement of Jet's eyes indicated he wanted Zuko to leave.

Zuko found himself backing off and disappearing around the wall so he might lean against the structure and think while the vomit soaked into his clothing. Jet was stubborn; his uncle might say as stubborn as he could be at times. Zuko shook his hand, but the pain from the bite wouldn't leave. He glanced around the corner and saw Jet trying to get up. Zuko rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh before hurrying over so he might grab the falling boy.

He gently lifted Jet onto his back only for the boy to reward him with a rather weak strangle hold, yet in the back of Zuko's mind he knew Jet could have – in his normal condition – had his airways blocked off. This wasn't the case, making Zuko frown. He muttered something about this being a problem and started off with the boy only for someone to stop him; Zuko suspect the person was the one who he felt coming up earlier.

A lie he didn't want to tell slipped from his tongue. "Sorry. My cousin here got sick, so…"

The lie came out way to easily, but from the way Jet's body tensed Zuko knew he wasn't pleased with the lie either. The lie ended up working and the man went his own way. Zuko didn't like how he began to feel Jet's body relax indicating Jet might actually _be_ falling asleep.

"You're worse off than I thought."

**A**

Iroh pretended he slept when his nephew left yet remained so until he heard his nephew come into the room. He first thought nothing of it, but then heard his nephew shuffle something other than himself onto his bed. The normal delight he might take at hearing Zuko softly tiptoe towards his bed wasn't there when his nephew shook his shoulder. "Uncle. I found _him_. Something's wrong. He's not well."

The former general sat up straight and lit a fire in the lamp; he held no worry about the discovery of his Fire Bending as there were more important matters. He stood and hurried over towards Zuko's bed and saw Jet lying unconscious on Zuko's bed. He carefully placed a hand on Jet's face yet felt a slight fever before reaching for the boy's shoulder so he might way up.

The groggy, glazed look in Jet's eyes worried Iroh greatly, but upon seeing him the youth began to convulse.

Iroh quickly set his light down and reached for the closest object of appropriate size and shoved the stick into Jet's mouth, yet he felt the ground shake. "Nephew, did your friend mention anything about being an Earthbender?"

"He's not my friend, but you must also be mistaken. He would have likely mentioned it on the ferry, but would have used it in our fight."

Iroh shook his head. "What have they done to this poor child, trying to force him into being something he isn't?"

Out of the corner of his eye Iroh caught sight of Zuko's face contort in confusion. "What do you mean being something he isn't?"

"I'm talking about awakening Earthbending abilities in somehow who had neve shown signs of such abilities prior to this."

"You mean. Wait. Awakening Earthbending when it wasn't even there?" Zuko shook his head, but his obvious confusion continued.

"No. Bending can only be awoken if it was there in the first place." Iroh let out a sigh. "I think this young man has had the unfortunate luck of his ability lying dormant for so long." He found himself glancing at his nephew remembering how long it took for Zuko's own bending abilities to blossom. Zuko caught sight of the look and opened his mouth, but looked away quickly.

Eventually the convulsions stopped and Jet's body trembled from the exhaustion which wracked his body. When he removed the piece of wood meant for the fire in the stove the breaths came in a slightly belabored manner. Iroh felt Zuko place a hand on his shoulder and glanced up at the bowl his nephew brought without prompting. His eyes drifted to Zuko's waist and then he pointed. "I need your belt."

"Why?" Zuko's eyes widened.

"So I might blindfold him."

"Why?" His nephew's eyes narrowed. "You don't need to hide anything because we're not hiding anything and you have no need to do that."

"Zuko!" Iroh snatched the bowl from Zuko's hands. "I need to stop him from seeing and hope that by not seeing he doesn't have another seizure for now."

Zuko let out a deep breath and reluctantly untied the belt around his waist and handed the item over to his uncle before snatching a piece of rope to secure his clothing. He sat down next to his uncle while watching his uncle dampen the middle of the belt before placing the item over Jet's eyes before tying it behind Jet's head.

"I need you to lift him up and lean him forward so I can flush his mouth out." His nephew gently lifted Jet up and grimaced while watching his uncle gently flush out Jet's mouth. The water turned a slight pink color from the blood, but a groan escaped Jet's mouth. "Shush now. It will be alright. Lean him back down." Zuko complied with his request. "I hope that he doesn't have too much damage to his tongue. That's how we taste, not to mention speak. However, even without biting the inside of his mouth he may not be able to speak."

"What? Why?"

"That's one of the things which can happen in very severe cases." Iroh glanced at Zuko. "This wasn't the first, was it."

Zuko looked down at the ground. He muttered, "He's at least had four of them already."

"I see." Iroh stood up and walked over to the stove so he might start preparing a tea which would help the young man out. After steeping the tea he cooled it with his breath before mixing in flour and forming a paste. "It isn't good he's had that many. Where are his friends?"

"I don't know. I didn't see them when he…" Zuko stopped speaking. "I didn't see them in the crowd when Jet was taken away."

"Not good. He'll have to stay with us." Iroh headed towards Zuko's bed and sat on the floor before spooning the rather lack luster tea cruel into Jet's mouth, only for Jet to spit it out.

"I don't want him to stay with us!"

Iroh instead continued spooning the gruel into Jet's mouth and held the boy's mouth shut. When Jet refused to swallow, or showed no signs of being able to swallow, he warmed his hand slightly and placed it on the boy's throat which resulted in Jet swallowing, but he slowly continued the process. He set the bowl down upon finishing. "We will have to gag him while we are working tomorrow. We'lll discuss if he stays or leaves later."

"Are you kidding? Are you also going to tie him up while we're gone as well?" Zuko snapped.

"I'm not gagging him because he's a prisoner!" Iroh shook his head, but found himself wondering at how his nephew could have such trains of thoughts.

"Then why gag him."

"I can't have him biting his mouth again if he has another seizure, but I've no choice but to leave him alone tomorrow."

"I'll stay." Zuko muttered. "Just… tell the shop owner that I feel bad about the damage caused even though it isn't my fault."

"Zuko…"

"Not my real name!" Zuko's hands clenched, yet he didn't let them flare up and steam. "It's bad enough that…"

"That what?"

Zuko glanced away. "I lied to one of the guards and said he was my cousin." He looked right at the wall. "Apparently you have a second brother or something that you didn't know about. Maybe a sister."

"What?"

"Was I supposed to say he was your son?"

Iroh felt the color drain from his face. "You…"

"I know. He's irreplaceable, but I miss him too." Zuko's voice was barely above a whisper as he looked at the floor.

"Irreplaceable in the fact no one can take his actual place, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for another, particularly you." Iroh felt the color return to his face. "I'm sorry. I was just surprised. You know that my son died in the war, but you are just as irreplaceable to me." Iroh glanced out the window. "Anyways, I should head to work. You get some sleep and keep an eye on our friend here. Take my bed"

"Yes sir." Zuko lay down on is side and went to sleep with his back to his uncle.


	5. Anger

Having his eyes covered so he couldn't see was far from pleasant, yet Jet found himself agreeing with Lee.

Blindfolding him had more to do with Jet not finding out the secrets Lee and his uncle kept from him than a method of preventing whatever was currently happening to him. He also found himself miffed at the idea of anything of theirs touching him, yet there he was with Lee's belt wrapped around his eyes. He hated being aware of what went on around him yet not seeing what they were doing to him either.

Not seeing didn't prevent him from hearing, yet he couldn't figure out why Mushi asked Lee if he were an Earthbender. In the back of Jet's mind he knew he wasn't, yet the question seemed utterly ridiculous; so was the idea of staying with Lee and Mushi. Jet mentally told himself he would get out of here and back with Smellerbee and Longshot the moment he found himself back on his feet.

Then Mushi shoved some sort of ghastly substance into his mouth.

His first mental reaction was regarding the pain he felt from having something shoved into his mouth involuntarily again, yet the taste was in fact not to his liking and thus it ended spit out. Jet registered the fact the manner in which he spat the food out was how young child might do so, yet he wondered if the substance was in fact some kind of poison.

The next spoonful went in and Mush clamped his jaw shut, yet he heard Mushi make a soothing sound as if he were attempting to get Jet to swallow. Something told Jet the old man would persist until he did swallow it, yet he found the muscles in his mouth unwilling to swallow which in turn made him feel as if he were drowning until he let air in through his nose.

Mushi noticed and took his other hand and placed it gently on his throat letting it warm up slightly which in turn resulted in a slight whimper from the pleasant sensation. Yet, in the back of Jet's mind he knew the change in temperature in Mushi's hands indicated the man warmed his hands with the use of Firebending which in turn made Jet feel invaded by the touch.

The old man kept it up, putting the possible poison down his throat as if it were medicine, yet eventually he stopped his ministrations and Jet heard the bowl set down on the ground. He wondered if Mushi thought him asleep given the fact he used his Firebending ability, yet an even scarier thought occurred; Mushi used Firebending knowing full well Jet was cognitive of what was happening.

Then came the threat of a gag, but overhearing the old man say he wanted to gag him made Jet irritated regarding the fact he agreed with Lee about tying him up, for why shouldn't he tie up the enemy. The old man most certainly shouldn't care that the enemy had another seizure either, yet much to Jet's dismay he heard Lee offer to stay behind. He heard Lee lie about feeling sorry for the shop being wrecked, for there was no way a Firebender would ever be sorry.

He heard Mushi leave and Lee settle down and soon his soft breath echoed through the room.

It dawned on him then Mushi let Lee's real name slip. The young Firebender's name was Zuko. Something in the back of Jet's mind told him he should know that name, yet he couldn't remember where or when he heard the name before. Despite now remembering things such as _who_ he was other things remained in a fog.

He also found himself thinking about the scar on Zuko's face and his mouth curled slightly. When they first met he'd thought Zuko received the scar when the Fire Nation attacked his village, yet that idea went out of Jet's mind when he realized the two were Firebending. The idea of a Firebender getting burnt bothered him, yet Jet never placed his finger on why.

Jet also didn't care that Mushi lost his son in the war, or so he kept trying to tell himself. Over and over as he found himself stuck lying in the blackness trying to regain his strength he tried telling himself he didn't care, but whatever Mushi shoved down his throat made him feel better. He found himself sitting up despite feeling slightly dizzy and pulled the offending cloth away and tossed it onto the ground.

That's when he saw Zuko lying on his Uncle's mat and Jet felt his mouth twist into a grimace. " _Why does he get the bed and his uncle the mat? Shouldn't it be the other way around, or are they not related. Disrespectful brat._ "

Jet's hand's instinctively went to his hooks despite the slight shake in his body, his thoughts on killing the boy. His hands barely lighted upon his hooks when Zuko moved with lightning speed from the ground and slammed Jet backwards. His eyes narrowed in a deadly manner. "Don't. Don't even try it."

His hands fell limply to his sides. "Hate you."

"Why? Why should you hate me when I've given you no reason." Zuko continued glaring at him.

"Firebender." Jet let his own eyes narrowed, but found himself delighted he could speak again even if the words came out slower than normal. "You _are_ a Firebender."

"You have no proof." Zuko snapped.

"I saw your Uncle heat his tea in the train depot." Despite having regained his ability to speak the words still came out slightly garbled.

"And?"

Jet didn't think of bringing up the fountain and instead snapped. "You broke my trust."

"How? By not telling you whether I can Firebend or not?"

"Yes."

Zuko let one eyebrow lifted up and he sat down on the mat while continuing to glare at Jet. He pointed a finger at Jet. "You're the one who broke my trust." This made Jet shake his head in disbelief. "I didn't tell you I was or wasn't a Firebender, but saying if I wasn't and had said I was or was and said I wasn't isn't the same as not saying whether I was or wasn't at all."

Jet felt his anger rise, but his head swam while watching Zuko look down at the mat. "That makes no sense especially this whole thing about me breaking your trust! You're the one who didn't tell me that you were a Firebender."

Zuko's head snapped up. "What if I had said I was a Firebender? I'm not saying I am one…"

"You are."

"What if I told you something like that? What would you have done? You would have shunned me and ousted me just like you're doing right now, wouldn't you have?" Zuko's throat bobbed slightly, as if Jet really did something which hurt him.

"Of course I would have!" Jet didn't understand where Zuko was coming from.

"Then _why_ the hell would I tell someone I'm a Firebender if I know they'll just reject me when they find out?" That was where the hurt came from.

This knowledge made Jet's facial features softened, yet he didn't want to admit this was the truth and let them harden again. "You refused to join us! Obviously you never wanted anything to do with us!"

"No."

"Yes!" Jet closed his eyes as his head swam.

"Refusing to join you is not an indicator I didn't want to join, but I also didn't want to get hurt when you found out the truth. That's why I said no to you on the ferry despite us having worked together. The last time I got close to someone, an Earth Kingdom family – it didn't end well. I was turned away like filth."

"You are filth you moron!" Jet snapped.

"You think I don't know that? My uncle on the other hand isn't. He has a good heart and doesn't deserve the persecution the other nations lay onto Fire Nation citizens who don't deserve it! My mother is another! My sister on the other hand – my sister is a psychopath and most definitely deserves to be hated by all of you!

"What about your father?" Jet narrowed his eyes while muttering slightly under his breath. He'd not expected to say the words, yet they'd poured out of his mouth as the situation suddenly took a personal turn he didn't like.

"My…" Zuko's face paled, something Jet didn't think possible. His voice lowered. "I would rather not talk about him, so go back to sleep."

Jet's eyes narrowed his eyes, realizing he'd struck a major cord with the other boy. His mouth twisted into a sneer. "Oh? What did he do? Did you get that scar while in Firebending training with him?"

Zuko's head snapped up and looked Jet in the eye. "So what if he did?"

"So what…" Jet felt his eyes widened, but he found himself stuttering out his words. "I _said_ it occurred in a training accident. I never said _anything_ about him burning you. Your own father did that to you?"

What happened next was even more surprising. Without hesitation Zuko responded to Jet's garbled words having gotten the drift of what Jet said, but he didn't look him in the eye. "Maybe I got what I deserved."

"Got what…"

"I dishonored my family and have not earned my honor back."

"You! You want to earn your honor back with a man who has no honor?" Jet's eyes snapped shut upon seeing Zuko move quickly again and found himself slammed into the wall again.

"Don't you _dare_ say that my father has no honor!" Zuko's face came close to his own. "He's got more honor than…"

"… your uncle?" Jet felt Zuko freeze, but watched his eyes widen. "The way I see it, it is the man who didn't burn you who is not only the more honorable man, but is also the one who acts more like a father to you than the one who burned you. Nobody deserves…"

"I did."

Jet narrowed his eyes. "There is nothing I can think of which would _ever_ warrant a father punishing their child in this manner. No justification at all."

"Subject is closed." Zuko pulled away and plopped onto the matt.

He decided to change the subject. "You know, if I was better we wouldn't be having this discussion."

"No. You would have tried keeling me again and we would have both ended up in a fight again, but this time both of us would get hauled off to whatever crappy place you were hauled off again. Get some sleep. When Uncle gets back, I'll go and look for your friends."


	6. Bitterness

Having anyone question his father's honor always made Zuko furious, yet he kept playing over and over in the back of his head the words saying he completely deserved what happened to him. Not only did he show the Fire Lord disrespect, but the man was his father. Every time he heard Jet shift in his sleep he found himself becoming even more agitated, but he wanted Jet gone as soon as possible, whenever it was finally possible.

Zuko found himself sure the words spewed from Jet's mouth didn't come from pity or from the fact Jet actually cared what happened to him. Every word reflected Jet's overly biased opinion, but the other boy was definitely biased. More importantly, there existed no way Jet could know or understand anything regarding his situation with his father, but more importantly Jet thought all Firebenders were the same.

He rested with his back against the wall wishing he had gone into work with his uncle even knowing he would feel majorly uncomfortable about what happened the day before. Zuko mentally envisioned everyone staring at the scar on his face thinking he was some sort of monster, for wasn't that what his scar marked him as? After all, he'd done many monstrous things, but his true monstrosity was his complete and utter failure as a son.

He had yet to succeed at one single thing in his life.

Eventually, Zuko zoned out of this thoughts into a half sleep and didn't hear his uncle come in. Instead, he felt the old man nudge him into awareness. "I was able to convince the tea shop owner this young man is our relative who has become ill. I explained we're trying to get him better and that he wouldn't do that again."

" _Why_ " Why did you ever go and do that for?" Zuko snapped. He sat up and looked at the man who did a lot of things he never understood.

"Do you mean why did I say he was family, or that he wouldn't do it again?"

"The first, but I guess the second as well. Do you really think once Jet is better and back on his feet that he isn't going to try and kill me again?"

"Yes." Iroh let his mouth twist into a big smile while his nephew's facepalmed himself. "That was a nice spar you two had the other day. You should both do it more often, though for fun and practice rather than actually trying to kill each other."

"I didn't try to kill his uncle. It would have ruined our so-called secret life for crying out loud, but he was the one trying to kill – no, not me -you. He came after you because of your stupid tea!"

"Come on Zuko. Tea is good for the body and soul. "Iroh let out a deep laugh, yet his smile eventually faded. "As for what you said, why I did that. I don't think that boy is ever going to have a normal life again. Even if we can get him past those seizures he still has that previously dormant Earthbending, but you know what it's like not to bend for so long, yet you know what it's like to struggle with bending."

"Thanks a lot." Zuko glanced away while crossing his arms. " _Seriously. I didn't want to be reminded of that of all things._ "

"He has nowhere to go." One look at Iroh and Zuko let out a sigh upon seeing his uncle put on his begging face. "You know he doesn't."

"I'm going to find his friends." Zuko stood intending to leave.

"Aren't you his friend? I saw that look on your face, Zuko…"

"Lee."

"Well, you did want to be those other kids' friends. Don't hide it from your uncle."

"Why? Why would I want to be their friends knowing full well what would happen when they could out _what_ I am? They would have shunned me just like they did."

"They? Do you mean the Avatar and his friends?"

"No," Zuko remembered quite well Aang asked him to join, but whether they could be friends, yet the rejection he faced from the real Lee was more prominent in his mind. "It's something you don't know about, from when we were separated. I'm going to go look for them."

The door closed behind him, yet Zuko found himself at a loss after he left the apartment regarding where he might start looking for Smellerbee and Longshot. He didn't recall seeing them the day before when Jet decided to pull the stunt, he had in trashing the tea shop, so he found himself simply looking around. He remained quiet as he moved about in hopes of not drawing attention to himself.

He still succeeded in bumping into someone, but he found himself stopping and looking down at the person. The person wasn't Smellerbee but that person was definitely a girl. She wore green, yet who wasn't in the city, for even two Fire Nation refugees forsook their usual red for the color of green. Brown locks of hair cascaded around her face, yet Zuko didn't really care and found himself turning and walking off without seeing a slight tinge of pink appear on the girl's cheeks.

Zuko frowned but found he didn't like how things weren't working out in the manner he would like, yet he didn't know where to begin looking for the other two Freedom Fighters. In his mind, they were sane compared to Jet, yet he also wondered who gave those two the crazy names they went by or if they were nicknames of some sort.

Eventually, he went and leaned against a wall but found himself frustrated with himself. He couldn't figure out why he never succeeded in doing anything right. His mistakes felt as if they made up every aspect of his entire life but thinking about everything he messed up to put his mind into a major mess. He also found himself falling deeper and deeper into the dark depression he constantly found himself in.

The possibility of Jet ending up a part of their lives did not help.

Working at the tea shop was not helping either.

Nor was keeping the fact he was a Firebender a secret doing him any good.

His mood was definitely not helped by the fact he found himself wearing the green clothing of the Earth Kingdom.

His sister was also a psychopath who wanted to kill him.

Last – there was the fact he wanted lightning to strike him which of course didn't happen which was its own mess of emotions.

Zuko let out a sigh and continued looking for Jet's two friends rather than dwelling on the negative emotions in his head.


	7. Fever

Jet found himself partially asleep when he overheard Zuko and Mushi speaking. Of course, as muddled as his mind was at the time, he was only able to fully process some of the words he heard. He heard something about Earthbending again, yet imagined Mushi saying something about Zuko struggling with bending, yet brushed the thought away.

Instead, he thought the Earthbending comment had something to do with the Dai Li.

He heard the door slap shut and drifted off for awhile into a deep sleep. He finally came too when his nose caught a whiff of good smelling food. Jet slowly sat up and lifted a hand towards his head when he felt like the room was spinning. A groan escaped his lips as he opened his eyes. The sight of Mushi moving towards him made him back away into the wall. Mushi let out a sigh and shook his head. "What can I do so you will trust us?"

"Nothing!" Jet's words came with a slight hissing sound, but his head turned hoping he might see a way of escape. Unfortunately he found himself incapable of processing any methods which would work, so there was no escape."

"You're afraid, aren't you?" Mushi asked. Jet glared at the man as if he slapped him in the face letting the old man to let out a sigh. "It's evident from your eyes, that you're upset. It's a dead giveaway, though I think it's also because of your state of mind and body. Tea might help." Jet's eyes blinked upon realizing the old man was holding out a cup of tea. For some reason he took the cup yet wondered if he should drink. Mushi let out a laugh. "It's alright. Tea is too precious of a thing to put poison into."

Jet looked up at the man's face and realized his eyes were filled with laughter. He blinked a couple of times. "You – did you just make a joke."

"Yes. I could say it was a joke, or a proverb. I like making jokes and I hope I am filled with a bunch of wise sayings. I also love teasing youth about living life to their fullest, especially my nephew. It's a delight to see his embarrassed expression. It is absolutely adorable, but I must be careful. Lee is a very sensitive child."

"You mean Zuko." Jet watched Mushi's eyes widen. "Why would his father burn his face? That's one of the things you're talking about, isn't it? That he's sensitive about?"

A sigh escaped Mushi's mouth. "How did you get that much out of him?"

"What do you mean?" Jet muttered into the cup of tea. It wasn't hot tea, but in fact a very cold tea which he pushed away. "And you let it slip. His name. I don't think he knows I know his real name."

"While hot tea is good for soothing the soul, so can chilled tea. That's espesually true when one's tongue and mouth is swollen and doesn't need any more pain like burns." Mushi looked away. "As for your question, my nephew isn't one to talk about personal things, let alone what happened between him and my brother."

Jet reluctantly drank some of the cold tea before setting it down. "He defended both you and his mother but called his sister a psychopath. He didn't once defend himself, but then when it came to his father…" Jet looked Mushi in the eye hoping to read something. "I asked if the burn was from a training accident."

"Why would you do that?" The look of hurt was apparent.

"Honestly, I was trying to goad him into losing his temper." Jet reached down and drank some more of the tea yet hated the fact he was receiving help from a Firebender of all people. "Except it wasn't. It wasn't and he out right said it wasn't the best case scenario."

Mushi took in a deep breath. "My brother is the worst case scenario."

"Why does he want to get his honor back from that snake?" Jet asked."

"It isn't his honor back that he really wants, yet in reality he never lost it in the first place. My nephew simply wants to go back home, but he wants his father to love and accept him. Zuko, he's mistaking honor and love as the same thing."

"You said he never lost his honor? Does that mean he's run away from the Fire Nation army and you came with him?" Jet watched Mushi's face twist slightly.

"How old do you think my nephew is?"

"Seventeen, eighteen – not much older than me. I turned seventeen this spring."

"My nephew doesn't turn seventeen until this next winter."

"Winter? Does that mean he's not a Firebender like you?" Jet set his hands down. "That means he's also younger than me. I thought he was older, but he's _younger_?"

"Yes, he's younger." Mushi frowned. "He tries to act like an adult, doesn't he? Much like you, Smellerbee and Longshot all do, but I remember you telling me they weren't the only ones. There used to be more, but I've the feeling you took care of them for a long time. Children orphaned by the war."

Jet looked down at his cup of tea. "I guess I was fourteen or fifteen at the time. I formed them up not expecting much, then betrayed their trust and I couldn't lead them anymore, and – I had to look at it from an adult point of view. They were all kids and I was trying to get them to do things kids shouldn't be doing. Particularly the Duke."

"That would have been around the time Zuko got burned by his father or a year later." Mushi glanced out the window.

A frown crossed Jet's face. "Wait. That would make him what, thirteen?" Jet glanced up at Iroh. "What could someone at the age of thirteen years do that would have angered their father like that?"

"It's not my place to say, but it is a sensitive subject to Zuko."

"But that man has no honor and convinced him he has to get his back." Jet snapped. "Your family is extremely messed up! The entire Fire Nation is messed up."

"Oh. I know. Zuko never lost his honor. In fact, it was doing something honorable in the first place which made his father do what he did." Mushi continued looking out of the window. "There is no place for those with good hearts and intentions in the Fire Nation. If they find someone with such treats they try to ruin that person any way they can."

" _Yet he didn't try to argue he had a good heart. Instead he argued that was the case for his uncle and mother._ "

When Jet didn't try and argue the point of all Fire Nation being Evil, Mushi raised an eyebrow with a smile on his face and pulled his beard. "What happened to thinking all Fire Nation people are evil?"

"Saying that would be like saying there is no evil in the other nations, mine included. Look at what the Dai Li did to me." Jet found himself leaning against the wall looking up at the ceiling. His thoughts felt like mush, yet he knew even he wasn't innocent either. "Plus, anyone who doesn't give someone like you a second choice Mushi is daft. Zuko on the other hand. I can't tell what side he's on."

"Neither can I really." Mushi looked out the window again. "He's so stubborn about this whole thing with his father, but he can't turn to his mother…"

"In other words he's an orphan of the war just like the rest of the Freedom Fighters."

"Well, you could say that given the way war works." Mushi beamed. "He does have me though, as do you." A frown spread across his face and he cupped his chin as if contemplating something. "Of course, sometimes Zuko does act – well, like he'd rather not be around me. He's already run off a couple of times. That silly boy, going off and chasing lightning."

"Lightning? Why would he go off and chase lightning?" Jet shook his head.

"Well, I never did answer your question whether he's a Firebender or not. I simply answered your question of whether he was younger than you or not, but I see no reason not to tell you." Mushi took a deep breath. "His sister can shoot lightning and I taught him a move based off Waterbending that can redirect the attack."

Jet stared at the old man in disbelief. "What does that have to do with him going and chasing lightning."

"I refused to shoot lightning at him so he could practice with the real thing."

"What?"

"It's more of he has a death wish, but I think he also took me not wanting to shoot lightning at him as a sign I didn't believe he'd succeeded in the technique – plus, I tried getting it across I didn't want to lose my dear nephew if there was a misstep without being so blunt about it and it was only to be used if he needed to – he got mad and went off to find some lightning to redirect."

Jet found himself struggling with the idea of the Lee he met on the ferry going and doing something _that_ stupid. In some ways the move felt more stupid than anything he did to blow up the dam. He opened and closed his mouth a few times contemplating a response. "No comment."

"That was the second time he ran off on me. I was so glad that when he did find lightning, that it didn't go anywhere near him." Mushi shook his head. "This old man doesn't need to lose another son."

Jet closed his eyes, remembering Zuko and Mushi were talking about Mushi's dead son when they thought him asleep. He originally thought Zuko tried chasing his sister, but instead he'd sought out real lightning to redirect. The latter sounded crazier, going after the natural formation of the element. "He's…"

Jet didn't say much more as a dizzy spell hit him. Mushi moved forward and removed the cup from his hands, but his mouth twisted into a frown. The old man placed a hand on his forehead. "A fever I see."


	8. Blue Fire

Upon arriving back from looking for Jet's friends, Zuko found his uncle even more anxious than before. He went and sat down on his uncle's mat, frowning as he did so. "Something the matter?"

Iroh looked up, frowning as he did so. "Your friend Jet has developed a fever. His body is not liking the torment that he is going through. He is speaking though, which is a relief."

"I told you, he's not." Zuko leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. "While I admit I would like to be friends with him – still, that doesn't change the fact he doesn't. Are you going to give him something to relieve the fever?"

The old man frowned. "I hope I don't have to give him something to ease the fever. If I give him the wrong thing I may very well trigger the seizures again, but the teas I've been giving him are actually known for taking care of this kind of ailment. I need to stay up watching our friend to see if the fever ends up getting worse."

"I'll do it. You've already done plenty, like giving up the bed for me. Did you really have to be stubborn about that?"

"I told you. I prefer the floor." Iroh looked at him carefully. "Are you sure Zuko that you want to stay up with him? You've not really liked the conversations you've had with him so far since he's come under this roof, but he's also been pushing you outside of your comfort zone. He told me you told him who gave you that scar."

"I didn't exactly tell him. One thing led to another. He pretty much tried imagining why I wouldn't want to talk about my father and in the said attempt, he figured It out.

Iroh continued frowning. "Zuko, Jet is a very bright boy. These seizures have done nothing to addle his mind. That's a mistake most people make."

"That is to our advantage as nobody will believe him." Zuko glanced at the ground and leaned forward. "Advantageous. Yeah right."

"Are you complaining about the fact we're taking care of him."

"No. I was thinking that if this were a truly advantageous thing for us that Jet and I would end up being friends, but that's never going to happen." Zuko let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling. He stood and let his uncle take the mat and took the spot next to the bed. Soon, his uncle's snores could be heard and his mind drifted off to his father. " _Seriously, why did Jet have to bring him up._ "

Shadows played across the doorway to the apartment as the light passed; in the back of his head, he could hear Azula laughing at him, mocking him for not being the child that the leader of the Fire Nation wanted. He placed his hands onto his arms and continued to glare. A sound came from his bunk and he turned to see Jet stirring, but not really stirring. He pulled himself closer and placed a hand over the older boy's forehead.

Letting out a deep sigh he looked towards his uncle, wondering if he should let his uncle know that the fever had gotten worse. Somehow they needed to pull the heat out of the teen's body and disperse it elsewhere. Zuko blinked a couple of times and then stood up to reposition himself so that he could keep one hand on Jet's forehead and hold the other out away, forming a flame. He began to feel the older teens fever go down and his eyes began to droop despite the fact he didn't fall asleep.

For some reason, the fire in his hand suddenly felt cold. His eyes blinked open when he felt Jet move near him, suddenly slapping his hand away. His eyes opened and he turned his head towards the teen, forgetting about the fire in his hand. He saw that Jet was glaring at him before pointing at his hand. "You're not a Firebender? That sure says you are?"

Zuku turned his head to look at his hand, remembering that he used his Firebending to control Jet's fever while wondering if things could get any worse. He held up the hand with the palm up and noticed that the fire was in fact blue. Zuku felt his body suddenly flinch and he moved to fling the fire away from his body in fear _her_ fire would burn him. It landed on a pile of dishes in water and he heard his uncle awake while he scuttled like a frightened child away from the fire, crashing onto the wall beside the bed.

Iroh looked up and saw the blue flame and blinked a couple of times. He raised his hand up and clenched it with his hand, causing the flames to go out. "Zuko..."

"She's here." Zuko felt his hands go up to his head while he pulled his legs to his chest. "She's here. Azula's managed to find us."

"Zuko. Your sister isn't here." Iroh turned to Jet. "It was my nephew who formed the blue flames, was it not?"

"Yes. It was him. He _is_ a Firebender."

"Well... you're an Earthbender." Zuko snapped.

Jet raised an eyebrow. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"Your seizures triggered dormant Earthbending."

"Sure..." The boy looked at Zuko. "Also, your nephew is dangerous."

"Do you say that because he is a Firebender? You do not say that I am dangerous despite the fact I am a Firebender."

"He's dangerous because he has no control." Jet flopped back onto the bedding. "I think I'm well enough to walk now."

"Good riddance."

"So your fever has gone down?" Iroh raised an eyebrow. He looked at Zuko, shaking his head as he did so. "I don't see why you can't walk around. I don't suggest going too far as we don't yet know how severe your problem is. Zuko, we need..." He paused, watching as his nephew buried his head into his lap. He then got up and stormed out of the room, heading to the building's roof. "Could you keep an eye on him? I can't ask him to come into work today, not when he's like this."

"I don't want to babysit him." Jet glared at the boy. "And what was up with that blue colored flame?"

"I don't know. Azula's so far been the only one whose cable to create that blue flame so I don't know if Zuko would actually be able to repeat what he did, or if he even understands what may have caused it. You do realize that he used his Firebending to bring your fever down."

"So?" Jet folded his arms across his chest, then looked away. "So he's not as bad as I thought. I still have this feeling you're keeping things from me. This Azula person, is she his sister? The one he said was a psychopath?"

"Yes. She would be his younger sister, the one who..." Iroh stopped short. "Let's just say she's their father's favorite as she was always considered a child genius when it came to bending."

"You say considered?"

"She is undoubtedly a child genius when it comes to Firebending, but the reason for that is because of her bloodline. Her father picked her to groom rather than her brother because she had the personality he could groom to be the way he wanted her to be." Iroh stood up. "I need to be getting to work. I'll tell the shop keeper that Lee is helping you still."

"That would be a lie."

"It is a convincing one. Plus, if something does happen it wouldn't hurt to have my nephew around."


	9. Walking a Thin Line

The names he heard sounded familiar, yet Jet found himself unable to place them. In fact, his mind swirled around, attempting to take in the situation. What the Da Li did to him, however, made his mind feel like mush, so Jet couldn't figure out what Lee or his uncle Mushi were up to. The fever wracked his mind and body, making all his thoughts collide in a painful manner.

The fever finally broke, and Jet's eyes blinked open, attempting to take in everything in a slow manner so that another seizure wouldn't set in. His tongue felt dry, and slightly swollen as Jet slowly turned his head to the side to see Lee, realization quickly kicking in that the other boy was, in fact, touching him, much to his disgust. He also saw the blue flame flickering in the other teen's hand, and instinctively he hit Lee's hand away.

It felt good to be able to move, but relief didn't set in as his worst fears became confirmed. Lee's eyes blinked open, realizing suddenly that Jet had stirred him from his sleep. The young Firebender hadn't noticed the flame, though, so Jet spoke in a curt tone. "You're not a Firebender? That sure says you are."

Jet hadn't expected to see the fear wash over the Firebender's face, or how Lee attempted to shake off the fire from his hand, causing it to fling across the room. The older teen closed his eyes, then opened them, relief washing over him as the flame hit the dishes just as Mushi came into the room. He lay in the bed, watching carefully, noting the name Mushi used for Lee, but also his sister, the names registering and staying this time, ready to be recalled later on if he didn't have another one of those seizures.

Confirmed – they were Firebenders.

Supposed – he was an Earthbender, meaning they were insane as well, yet Jet didn't think that Mushi would lie to him. The old man was strange, and despite his disgust and distrust of Firebenders, there was a strange feeling telling him to trust the old man.

Unknown – why Zuko – that was Lee's real name – made his fire blue.

Strange – the fact Mushi didn't mind sharing Zuko's real name with him.

Irritating – he was now Zuko's babysitter because something was off about the other teen, and yet everything seemed normal to Jet. However, in turn, Zuko was also, unfortunately, his babysitter.

Jet watched Iroh leave the apartment, and Jet sat up, letting out a sigh. "I don't like you, and if I actually had any ounce of energy I would either kill you or turn you over to…"

"Do I need to remind you of what they did to you the last time?" Zuko let out a sigh, heading over to the tub of dishes. Without hesitation, he started into cleaning them, almost as if he were pretending that Jet wasn't there.

"Then I guess I'm left with the option of killing you." Jet's comment elicited no reaction, making the older teen worry his lip. He couldn't remember much of what was said between them outside of being horrified that his rescuer was Zuko. He wasn't sure where to start regarding the other teen, his teeth tightening, only to let out a sound of discomfort due to how swollen and sore is tongue was.

"Are you okay?"

One of Jet's hands reached up to touch his mouth before he looked up to glare at the other teen. "Let me ask you something, Lee? Why did you refuse to join us?"

Zuko flinched, turning to look at Jet, his eyes widening. "We already discussed this?"

"No, you're avoiding this because you don't want to admit that you wanted nothing to do with us. You don't believe in our cause."

"Yes, we already did discuss this, and no, I didn't say no because I didn't want to have anything to do with you and your friends."

"Liar." Jet watched the younger teen's jaw clench as he turned back to the dishes he was washing, one of his hands splashing down as he controlled his anger. Zuko's entire body was tense, including his jaw.

"You don't know me."

"You didn't give us a chance."

"As if you'd have wanted anything to do with me once you found out I was a Firebender!" Zuko's voice was strained so that his neighbors wouldn't hear him. "Just like you're not wanting to have anything to do with me now!"

"No, the fact is you didn't trust us." Jet stood up, feeling it was time to leave. "I'm out of here."

Getting onto his feet proved to be no problem for Jet, although he staggered. Zuko didn't try to stop him from leaving the room, and he started away, wondering where he would need to go to start looking for Smellerbee and Longshot. He'd not gotten that far from the place before his legs started to give out. Jet's eyes closed, his body leaning up against the wall, sliding down slightly as he let out a groan. His head began to hurt, and he closed his eyes.

Someone crouched down near him, probably looking right at him. The sound of the crunching gravel indicated as much. "What did uncle say about not going too far?"

Jet peeked out at Zuko, noting the look of concern on his face. He wanted to spit in the other's face. "I don't want your help. Why would you help me anyways? It's not as if you cared for our cause, or us. Tell me."

"You wouldn't believe me." Zuko leaned over, pulling Jet up onto his feet. "Uncle has some cold tea back at out place."

"So you're going to pretend we're actually cousins then?" Jet muttered, irritated where things were going. He kept his eyes closed, feeling each and every step pound at his head. For some reason, he thought that the ground itself was working against him, but finally, they arrived at the apartment, and Zuko settled him down. "Why? You're a Firebender."

Jet didn't hear Zuko step over but felt the cup put into his hands. He lifted the drink to his lips, taking in the soothing liquid.

"It's honestly complicated."

"I hate Firebenders."

"I know."

"What, are you going to say something like, you don't blame me? I don't need pity from someone I hate. Or do you want me to pity you, with that scar of yours that you got through training? A Firebending klutz."

"What if I had said yes?"

"I'd be thinking you were trying to spy on our movement." Jet's head shot up, only for a hiss to escape his lips as one palm reached up to touch his forehead, his eyes closing. One eye opened, realizing Zuko was looking at him. The hurt look on the younger teen's face was irritating. "What?"

"What would you have thought had you not seen my uncle's tea heated up? What would have happened if I'd said yes or no in those cases."

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"Well, what matters to you isn't important, you damn Firebender! You could have just told me!"

Zuko sat down, looking Jet in the eye, the hurt still there, sending a shudder down the older teen's spine. "That's a lie, and you know it."

" _A lie? What does he mean by that?_ " Jet shook his head, before wincing.

"You should drink more of the tea, probably."

"No. Tell me what you mean by that."

"You said it wasn't important. The answer to my question, of what you would have thought of me had you not seen that? What would you have done? For either a yes or no answer? What would you have done had you then later found out had I said yes?"

"What…"

"Just, think about it, will you." Zuko stood up, heading to the doorway and leaving the door open, leaning on it yet not speaking.

Jet's eyes narrowed. " _A lie, huh. Yeah right. Had I not known that his Uncle had heated up his tea…_ " The older teen felt his eyes blink despite the fact his head hurt. "… _I would have thought they were arguing about Zuko – no, Lee – joining us. I would have wondered why he wasn't joining and would have kept pushing._ "

A sigh escaped his lips as he flopped down, placing a hand over his eyes in frustration. He hated thinking, yet now in his weakened state, he was forced to think.

" _I would have pushed until he joined, or found out. Had he joined…_ " Jet shook his head, feeling that a puzzle piece was still missing. He uncovered his eyes and noted that Zuko was still in the doorway. "Lee." The other teen didn't respond, so he spoke louder. "Lee."

The younger teen startled, before walking over. "Do you need something?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"You weren't truthful with me about being a Firebender."

"And because you found out, you're no longer my friend." Zuko didn't stay long, but Jet could see the pained look.

Jet took a deep breath, closing his eyes and pinching his nose. " _Is he actually telling me that his friendship with me is important? That's stupid._ "

It was then that Jet realized that along with the pained look on Zuko's face, there was also a look of fear, one that had been there ever since he thought that Azula person – his sister- had been there. Things didn't make sense, and the puzzle pieces just wouldn't fit together.


	10. Dark Place

“ _If he’s able to walk on his own, why doesn’t he leave._ ”

So much regarding Jet honestly perplexed Zuko that the young Firebender found himself thoroughly frustrated with his current situation. The _fact_ he’d managed slipping up and setting something on fire in front of Jet didn’t help given the fact the older boy now held proof Zuko in the very least was a Firebender. Jet also nagged him about not saying anything regarding _that_ fact Zuko wanted so much to keep secret from the older boy.

“ _Seriously. What kind of idiot doesn’t understand that either way he would have stopped being my friends? Why do I even want to be friends with him so desperately?_ ”

The word _friend_ of course felt foreign on Zuko’s tongue when he let slip the fact he’d honestly wanted to be friends with Jet; more importantly, the word which slipped from his tongue remained something he’d never hear himself use in relation to himself. No, in his life Azula remained the one always with the friends while his father cut off all social contact, indicating he felt Zuko an embarrassment even back then.

“ _Why did I tell Jet what I did? It’s not as if telling him will do any good. I mean, he didn’t listen to anything else I said, so why did I have to be such an idiot? Why did Uncle have to leave me alone with him when nothing good can come of any of this?_ ”

A curse left his mouth, mentally remembering Jet _needed_ someone at the apartment in case another seizure occurred. Zuko slid down outside of the doorway of their apartment berating himself for thinking of abandoning anyone in need. He lifted a hand, placing the palm against his forehead while his father’s voice drummed n his head in a booming manner, outright telling him that Jet was of the Earth Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom was the enemy.

His hand moved up so he covered his eye while the other clutched desperately to the front of his clothing. “ _Why is being friends with him so important? Why am I making such a big deal about losing out on having Jet as a friend? It’s not as if…_ ”

“… _you had any friends back in the Fire Nation, did you Zuzu_?” The voice of his sister dripped with all her glorious cruelness in the back of his head. “ _You never wondered why that was?_ ”

“ _It’s because I’m not worth it. I never…_ ”

“Hey.”

Jet’s voice from the doorway made Zuko flinch, his entire body moving as if he were attempting to jump out of his skin. Taking a deep breath, Zuko uncovered his eyes, his one hand still clutching the front of his clothing. Turning his head ever so slightly, he found himself looking up at the boy, confused regarding why Jet bothered approaching him. Jet obviously _had_ something planned, which likely meant more of the torturous conversation regarding something Zuko couldn’t imagine Jet ever understanding.

“I need some fresh air.”

“And?”

“Let’s head up to the roof, alright?”

Zuko’s mouth opened, wanting to tell Jet to take himself up to the roof, yet just as quickly he found himself biting down lightly on the tip of his tongue, preventing himself from saying such a thing. He instead stood, his mind not understanding why someone as stubborn as Jet actually took the time to ask for help. One conclusion sprung into Zuko’s mind. “ _He’s planning something. He’s likely planning some more mental torture._ ”

Yet, Zuko still stood up, reaching an arm out for Jet to take and lean on. His entire body tensed upon feeling Jet willingly take his arm in order that he might remain steady on his feet, yet he also felt the manner in which the other boy tensed – meaning he really didn’t want to be doing what he was doing, which in turn meant Jet felt he had little choice in the matter. Taking a deep breath, he started up the stairs, waiting for Jet to say something, anything which might send him reeling into that bad place – a place he didn’t really want to go.

They staggered forward, somehow managing to make their way up to the roof of the rather ramshackle building in the lower slums of Ba Sing Se.

When they arrived, Jet let out a groan. “You can let me down here.”

Zuko complied, feeling rather off-put by the fact he found himself doing what the other lad asked without question despite the fact he knew full well he’d find himself dealing with the brunt of the Earth Kingdom youth on his own. After he set Jet down so he leaned against the wall just outside of the door which opened up to the roof, Zuko scurried away, sitting so he might soak up the sun yet keep a wary eye on Jet.

“So…”

“So what?” Zuko replied rather curtly, far more curtly than he would have liked. The glare from Jet made him wither.

“Is being friends with me really that important?”

Zuko felt his jaw clench, the memories of his father and sister’s voices still rattling around in the back of his mind. “It isn’t as if it was important to you.”

“No. A friendship with a Firebender isn’t at all important to me.” Jet rested up against the wall, looking right at Zuko. From the looks of things, he didn’t seem at all wary regarding the situation – a stark contrast from the way Zuko felt, let alone how Jet reacted earlier. He seemed smug, making Zuko wonder yet again _why_ he wanted to be friends with the other boy. “Which to me makes the fact you _still_ want to be my friend even more baffling.”

“Then you already had your answer. No need to mock me for it.”

“Wonder if that was my intent when I decided to see if you’d not gone far.” Jet seemed quite relaxed in the given situation. “I do know I found – no, still find – your behavior baffling.”

“You…” Zuko opened his mouth, wanting to call the other boy out for mocking him, trying to find ways to goad him.

“Then I found you outside the door cowering as if you were off in some dark place.”

“Don’t pretend you did this out of an act of kindness.”

“No. I won’t.” Jet glanced away. “I wanted to talk. That’s what I knew for sure when I followed. Seeing you like that made me even more curious.”

“Why?” Zuko let out a sigh. He pulled his knees up to his chest, but reached up grabbing his hair with his hands.“Am I really that much of a curiosity?”

“Yeah, really, you are.” Jet let out a breath of air, one which indicated both humor and disdain at the same time. “It was definitely curious to see someone of the Firenation acting, in the same manner, one of my kids scarred by the Firenation did after we Freedom Fighters rescued them, Zuko.”

Zuko felt his blood run cold, his entire body tense up.


End file.
